Reading The Lightning Thief With the Minor Gods
by sister-of-the-devil
Summary: Yes, yes, I know. Another reading the books story. But this isn't the Olympians. We're with the minor gods! And goddesses. Anyway! Enjoy! I don't own PJO. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, readers! This is a new kind of fanfiction! Everyone writes about the Olympians reading the books. But what about the minor gods and goddesses? Well here they are! Some of the minor gods and goddesses read PJO! Later I'll do the Heroes of Olympus.**

**The list of the minor gods and goddesses I'll be using (Roman names are in quotes):**

**Selene ("Luna"; goddess of the moon)**

**Eos ("Aurora"; goddess of dawn)**

**Proteus ("Pontus"; minor sea god "The Old Man of the Sea"; can change form)**

**Amphitrite ("Salacia"; minor sea goddess; wife of Poseidon)**

**Eris ("Discordia"; goddess of discord and strife)**

**Nike ("Victoria"; goddess of victory)**

**Deimus ("Metus"; god of fear; brother of Phobus)**

**Phobus ("Formido"; god of panic; brother of Deimus)**

**Erebos ("Erebus"; god of darkness and Chaos)**

**Aether ("Ether"; god of the upper air)**

**Thanatos ("Mors"; god of [non-violent] death, doom) Oh! In some of my past things, I've accidentally called Thanatos by his Roman name. But I spelled it as Moris, which is wrong. Sorry!**

**There you go!**

**I don't own PJO (I think I said that in the summery.)**

**P.S. I'm not sure if Amphitrite is still Poseidon's wife, but that's how it's gonna be in my story.**

"I served in his palace!"

"Yes, but I am his wife!"

"Oh, you're playing that card again? You didn't even want to marry him at first!"

Okay, that's what Amphitrite and Proteus are up to. Arguing. Again.

"Darkness is better than death."

"How so?"

"Darkness scares people and doesn't (kill them when they're in it)!"

"Hey! _I_ don't kill them! They get killed somehow, but not by me!"

Ah, the darkness and death debate by Erebus and Thanatos. Never gets old.

"Dad likes me more."

"No, he doesn't."

"Yes, he does!"

"No, he doesn't!"

"Yes, he does!"

Ugh. Phobus and Deimus. They're so annoying. Same old thing. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Oh, here she comes! Finally! I'll leave now. The story can be told from elsewhere!

"Guys!" Nike yelled. She was holding a package close to her chest with a panicked look on her face.

"Thank us," Aether said. "About time someone with some sense was here."

"Aw! Nike!" Eris said. "It was just getting good!"

Selene smacked her upside the head. "Stop encouraging them."

Eos snickered. Selene turned to Eos. "You'll get it, too, you know." Eos stopped snickering.

"Hey!" Nike said. "This is serious!" Everyone looked at her. She took a deep breath. "This package is very important." She opened a note.

"Dear gods," she read. "This package holds five books."

"Books?" Phobus yelled.

"Shut up and let me read! This is important! These books are about the future. They tell the story of a young demigod who fights in the next Titan war."

Everyone paled.

"He is a powerful demigod and holds the key to you winning the war…or losing it. Kronos is stirring."

There was a little muttering and everyone paled even more.

"To help the boy on his way you must read these books. Help him as he needs it. But keep in mind he will need little help. But do what you think is right _only_ when you know _for sure_ when it's needed. Otherwise, do _not_ interfere. He will survive with help from friends. But make sure to keep watching him. After all is over, he will need your help more than ever. Keep him safe."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"The next Titan war," Aether said quietly.

"Who's it from?" Thanatos asked.

Nike shook her head. "It doesn't say."

Everyone jumped when a quiet voice from the shadows said, "Here you are. Take care."

Everyone looked over to the direction the voice had come from and drew their weapons.

"Who's there?" Proteus bellowed.

His question was met with silence.

Then:

"Ow! Leo!"

"Don't 'Ow, Leo' me! You landed on me! Not the other way around!"

"Um, guys."

"What?" came two irritated replies.

"Look."

Piled on top of each other in the corner of the room was one was a girl and two boys.

The girl had choppy brown hair and eyes that changed color. She had a black dagger attached to her side.

The first boy had blond hair and blue eyes.

The last boy had curly brown hair and brown eyes.

They all looked like they were fifteen.

"Who are you?" Nike demanded.

The kids rolled off each other and got up.

"Umm," the girl said. "We…uh…"

There was a huge _boom_ and a large bronze dragon appeared in the opposite corner.

The dragon made a hissing noise.

"Festus, no!" the brown haired boy shouted. The dragon stopped hissing and looked at the boy. The dragon looked confused. If a bronze dragon could look confused.

"What _is_ that?" Eos asked.

"It looks like a dragon," Thanatos said.

"No, duh!" Eos said.

"Lady Aurora," the blond boy said. "I'm-"

Eos raised her staff and stood taller. "Aurora?" she yelled. "I am _Eos_ young demigod. How _dare_ you mistake me for that Roman shit!"

"Yes!" Eris said. "A fight!"

"Shut up, damn it!" Eos said.

"I-I apologize, Lady Eos," the blond boy said. "I'm Jason Grace, son of…" Jason trailed off.

Nike's eyes widened. "You-" she said. "You're a Roman!"

"Yeah…" Jason said.

All the gods and goddesses raised their weapons. The three kids raised their hands in surrender.

"Wait!" the boy with the brown hair exclaimed. "Can we explain?" Everyone looked at him. "Please?" He smiled.

"Fine," Thanatos said. "Quickly, though."

"Yes, sir." Leo gestured to Jason.

Jason took a deep breath. "Well, I come from another camp. A Roman camp. Not Camp Half-Blood. It's called Camp Jupiter. It's for Roman demigods."

There was a bright light and four young children appeared in the room, three in a twin bed and one in a crib.

The dragon, Festus, hissed. "Festus, Stop!"

The first girl in one of the twin beds had black hair. When she opened her eyes they were sky blue. The other girl had curly, shoulder-length blond hair. The boy in the twin bed had short black hair and green eyes. The last boy, the one in the crib, looked only a year old. He had black hair and olive skin.

"Mommy?" the boy in the twin bed asked, sitting up.

The black haired girl sat up, too. The blond sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Who're you?" the black haired girl asked Thanatos.

The gods and demigods just stared.

"Hello?" the green eyed boy said.

"You're taaaallll," the blond girl said, raising her arms up to show that they were 'tall'.

"Oh. Oh my gods," the older brown haired girl said. "Annabeth?"

The young blond girl turned cauciously toward her. "How do you know my name?"

"Um," Jason said. "Piper, is that really…"

"How do you know my name?" the young girl, Annabeth, asked again.

"What is going on?" Phobus yelled.

"Phobus, quiet!" Deimus said. "You'll wake up the kid."

"Too late," Selene said.

Everyone looked over at the crib. The olive-skinned boy sat up, opened his eyes, and said, "Mommy?" He looked around, confused then started crying.

Selene rushed over and picked him up, holding the boy to her chest and singing quietly. The boy stopped crying and watched her face. Then he touched the half-moon pendant and held it in his small hand.

"Nico?" Jason exclaimed.

The baby, Nico, looked at Jason. "Daddy?"

Everyone laughed while Jason had a _what the Hades?_ look on his face.

Nico let go of Selene's necklace and reached out to Jason. Selene laughed and put him down.

"Daddy!" Nico crawled over to Jason. Jason backed away. Nico stopped crawling toward Jason and sat down, his eyes tearing up.

"Jason!" Piper scolded. "Nico wants to see you. I bet 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' are the only two words he knows! Come here, Nico." Nico shied away from Piper when she approached him.

"Daddy!" Nico said. He got up and tried to walk over to Jason. He managed to get within two feet of Jason and then he fell. Nico raised his eyes to Jason. "Daddy?"

Jason decided he couldn't just leave the baby down on the ground. Plus it was getting annoying to hear him call Jason 'Daddy'. Jason reached down and picked Nico up.

"Daddy!" Nico said.

"Hey, Nico." Jason couldn't hold the smile back anymore.

"Daddy." Nico leaned his head on Jason's shoulder and fell asleep.

Jason sighed. "Really?" he whispered to avoid waking Nico.

Piper was giggling and Leo was outright laughing.

"Leo, shut up," Jason said.

"Jason," Piper said, "that is too cute." She took out her phone and took a picture before Jason could react.

"Piper!" Jason whisper-yelled.

"Silence!" Aether said quietly.

"Why?" the green eyed boy asked.

Aether's eyes flashed with anger but Eos put her hand on his shoulder.

"Keep in mind these children don't know anything about us yet," she said.

"Yes, I know," Aether said.

"Hey!" the green-eyed boy said. "What's that note say?" He picked up the note that Nike had dropped on the floor. "I can't read this. Can you read this?" He handed the note to Phobus.

"Yes," Phobus said. "I'll read it." He cleared his throat and read: "Dear gods,"

"Wait," Annabeth said. "You're _gods_?"

"Yes," Amphitrite said. "We are."

"But Mommy said that there was only _one_ God."

Proteus sighed. "Here we go. Another explanation."

"Hey!" the blue-eyed girl said. "What's that?" She was pointing to the package.

"Is it a present?" the green-eyed boy asked excidedly. "I wanna open it!"

"No! It's mine!" Annabeth said.

"No," Nike said nicely. "It's for us. And the package is filled with books."

"Awww!" the older boy and blue-eyed girl said.

"Ooh!" Annabeth said. "Can we read them?"

"Someone's into books," Leo said.

"Leo," Piper said. "This is Annabeth we're talking to. What did you expect?"

"Good point."

"Yes," Erebos said gently. "We can."

All the gods gasped.

"What?" Erebos said. "I read sometimes. Plus, the note sounds important."

"Yeah," Piper said. "What _does_ the note say?"

Phobus, who was still holding the note, started reading. Again. "'Dear gods,

"This package holds five books. These books are about the future."

"Cool!" the blue-eyed girl exclaimed. This woke Nico up, who started crying.

Jason sighed.

"Give him to me," Deimus said. Jason did. Deimus held Nico close to his chest and sang quietly. Deimus had a small smile on his face. Phobus snickered. Deimus glared, but kept singing. Nico yawned and fell asleep, snuggling up into the god's chest.

"Aw," all the goddesses and Piper said.

"Keep reading, brother," Deimus said. Phobus laughed quietly but kept reading.

"They tell the story of a young demigod who fights in the next Titan war. He is a powerful demigod and holds the key to you winning the war…or losing it. Kronos is stirring. To help the boy on his way you must read these books. Help him as he needs it. But keep in mind he will need little help. But do what you think is right _only_ when you know _for sure_ when it's needed. Otherwise, do _not_ interfere. He will survive with help from friends. But make sure to keep watching him. After all is over, he will need your help more than ever. Keep him safe."

"Who're the books about?" the black haired girl asked.

"I don't know," Nike said. "But before we open the package, why don't you all tell us your names?"

Annabeth said, "You already know my name. But just in case you forgot, it's Annabeth Chase."

"My name's Thalia," the blue-eyed girl said. Jason's eyes widened.

The boy with the green eyes stepped forward. "I'm Percy."

"I'm Piper McLean," the brown haired girl said.

"Leo Valdez," the boy with the curly hair said.

The last boy, the one with the blue eyes, was staring at Thalia. Piper elbowed him in the ribs.

He yelped. "What?" Piper whispered something in his ear. "Oh," he said. "I'm Jason Grace."

Thalia's eyes widened. "Jason?" she said. "My little brother?"

"Um, maybe?"

"_What_?" Thalia screeched. "But-But-"

"I know," Jason said walking over to her. "It's confusing. I'll explain later."

"This is _so_ weird," Leo said.

"Tell me about it," Eris said. "What in Hades is going on here?"

"I don't know," Nike said, "but I bet the books will tell us."

"Yay!" Annabeth said. "We're reading now! Right?" She looked up at Nike hopefully.

"Yes," Nike said. "We are."

"Wait!" Leo said. Everyone looked at him. "Um, don't get mad at me 'cause I don't know who all you guys are, but can you introduce yourselves?"

"Yes," Nike said. "If it's okay with all of the other gods and goddesses, you, Jason Grace, may refer to us with our Roman names, if that seems more natural to you. Is that okay with everyone?"

There was a chorus of 'yes's.

"Good. I'm Nike, goddess of victory. My Roman name is Victioria."

"I'm Selene, goddess of the moon. My Roman name is Luna."

"My name is Eos, goddess of dawn. My Roman name is Aurora."

"I'm Proteus, a sea god. You might recognize me more as "The Old Man of the Sea," but I prefer Proteus. My Roman name is Pontus."

"I'm Amphitrite, goddess of the sea. I'm Poseidon's wife. My Roman name is Salacia."

"I'm Eris, goddess of discord and strife. My Roman name is Discordia."

"I'm Deimus, god of fear. My brother is Phobus. My Roman name is Metus."

I'm Phobus, god of fear. My brother, as you already know, is Deimus. My Roman name is Formido."

"I'm Erebos, god of darkness and Chaos. My Roman name should be easy to remember. It's Erebus."

"I'm Aeither, god of the upper air. My Roman name should also be easy to remember. It's Ether."

"I'm Thanatos, god of non-violent death and doom. My Roman name is Mors."

"Anyway," Nike said as she unwrapped the brown paper from the books and looked at the title. The book is called "Percy Jackson and the Olympians."

"Percy Jackson?" Percy said. "That's my name! And what's with the Olympians thingy? That makes no sense!"

"I bet the book will explain it," Piper said gently.

"Yeah, okay."

"And who knows? The books are probably about you and your adventures in the future!"

Percy's eyes widened in excitement. "That'd be soooo cool!"

"Yes, it would."

**The Lightning Thief**

"What?" Thanatos said.

"That's the name of this book," Nike said. "The others are 'The Sea of Monsters', 'The Titan's Curse', 'The Battle of the Labyrinth', and 'The Last Olympian'."

"Oh."

"How do you steal lightning?" Proteus asked.

No one answered.

**Chapter One: I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher**, Nike read.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys! I hope you liked my first chapter! Again, I hope it's okay that I kinda used your ideas, Sinblade Nev9 and I'm not exactly sure who you got that idea from (the little kid idea I mean), but I hope it's okay. I'm kinda changing it, I guess. I'm making Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia all be four years old and Nico's one year old. Again, I hope that's okay and it's a big enough change. If it's not, just let me know in a PM and I'll change their ages.**

**Thanks!**

**Sister~**

**P.S. Reviews are AWESOME!**

**P.S.S. I don't own PJO.**

**On to the story!**

**Chapter One: I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher**, Nike read.

"Sounds exciting," Eris said smiling.

"Sounds dangerous," Amphitrite said.

Festus's jaw creaked.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

There was muttering of agreement among the older demigods. "What's a half-blood?" Percy asked.

"Someone who's half human and half god," Deimus said. He was still holding Nico who was now awake and petting Festus's nose. Festus was making a strange purring noise.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth and try to lead a normal life.**

"Sadly, that won't work," Selene said.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous.**

"Check," Leo said.

**It's scary.**

"Check."

**Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"Check," Leo said sadly.

Festus nudged Leo's hand and Leo smiled and rubbed the dragon's nose.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great.**

"Why would that be great?" Thanatos asked.

"Because they wouldn't have to deal with all the monsters, idiot," Nike said.

**Read on.**

"Why would they keep reading? You'd think that this would scare those mortals-or demigods-to death," Proteus said.

"They'd probably be curious," Aether said. "Kids always are."

**I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

"That doesn't sound good," Leo said.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before _they_ sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

"Who's 'they'?" Eris asked.

"Monsters," Phobus said.

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"You didn't warn me," Piper muttered and Leo nodded.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

Suddenly, a bright light filled the room.

When it died, there were four kids in the room: two boys and two girls, all with weapons drawn.

_When is this going to stop?_ Amphitrite thought.

The gods were on their feet in less than a second.

The kids looked around.

"Where'd it go?" the older boy asked.

"Um, Perce?" the younger boy said, tapping the other boy's shoulder.

"What?" the older boy said. He turned and saw the gods standing, weapons drawn. "Oh."

The four bowed.

"Who are you?" Thanatos asked, a silent threat in his voice.

"I'm getting really tired of people popping up in this room randomly," Phobus said.

"Quiet!" Deimus said.

"Make me!" Phobus challenged.

"I'll punch you both if you don't shut it!" Selene said.

"Anyway!" Nike said. "Who are you?"

The kids rose.

The girl with blue eyes and black hair stepped forward. "My name is Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus."

"Thalia?" Jason said. "But-but-you're over there!"

"Jason?" Thalia said. She ran over and hugged her little brother. Then what he said registered. "What are you talking about?" Jason pointed to little Thalia who's mouth was open.

"You're pretty!" little Percy said pointing to older Thalia.

"Um," the older Thalia said.

"This makes no fucking sense!" Leo said.

"Leo!" Piper said. "There are little kids here! Watch your language!"

"Sorry."

"Who are you?" Thanatos repeated.

"I'm Nico di Angelo, son of Hades," the younger boy with black hair and eyes said. Leo laughed. "What?" the older Nico demanded.

Leo just pointed to the baby Nico who was back in Jason's arms.

"Wait. That's…me?" older Nico said in disbelief. Leo nodded, still laughing.

"Oh…my…gods."

"You're so cute!" the older blond girl with grey eyes gushed.

"I am_ not_ cute!"

"Yes, you actually are," Thalia said. She had let go of Jason.

Thalia walked over to little Nico and tried to pick him up. Little Nico shied away and clung onto Jason's shirt. He turned his head to Jason. "Daddy!" he said.

There were stares from the new demigods. Then they broke into laughter. Except for Nico.

"Wh-what?" older Nico squeaked.

"Y-you-you just c-called h-him 'D-Daddy!'" Percy laughed, barely able to form a sentence.

"Silence!" Erebus said. Everyone quieted.

"Thank you, Erebus," Nike said. "I suppose introductions will be needed again."

"I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," the older blond said.

"I'm Annabeth, too!" little Annabeth said.

Older Annabeth turned at the sound of a little girl's voice. "Oh my gods," she said.

"Yep!" little Annabeth said. "You're pretty."

"Thanks," the teenage Annabeth said. "You're very pretty yourself." Little Annabeth giggled.

"I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and savior of Olympus." Older Annabeth smacked the back of Percy's head. "Ow!"

"Oh, come on," older Annabeth said. "That couldn't hurt you."

"Fine. But what was that for anyway?"

"For bragging. We helped too, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. But I was the one who-"

"Quiet!" Nike yelled. The two fell silent. "First, tell us how you got here."

The four looked at each other. "We don't know, Lady Nike," teenage Annabeth said. **_{AN: I'm gonna call little Annabeth "little Annabeth" and teenage Annabeth will just be "Annabeth". Little Percy will be "little Percy" and teenage Percy will be "Percy". Little Thalia will be "little Thalia" and teenage Thalia will be "Thalia."}_**

A happy expression flickered across Nikes face, pleased to be recognized by demigods of the Olympians. But it was gone as quickly as it came.

"Fine," she said. "But tell us what you're talking about. Savior of Olympus?"

Percy opened his mouth to speak but Thalia interrupted him.

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians," she read off the cover of the book. "The Lightening Thief."

"Is that when…" Annabeth asked.

Percy nodded. "I think so."

"What are you talking about?" Eris asked.

Baby Nico looked at Nico and said, "Mommy!" **_{AN: I'm gonna call baby Nico "baby Nico" and teenage Nico "Nico"}_**

Everyone cracked up. Baby Nico was reaching out to Nico like he wanted to be held by his older self.

"I'm not your 'Mommy'!" Nico said.

Baby Nico shrunk back into Jason's chest. "Daddy," baby Nico said, eyes watering.

"Aw, Nico," Jason said, a smirk on his face. "Look. You made yourself cry."

Nico sighed. "Give him to me," he said. Jason walked over to Nico and handed baby Nico to Nico.

"Mommy!" baby Nico said.

Nico sighed. "Hi, Nico," he said.

"Mommy!" baby Nico said.

Nico smiled a very small smile. But it was still a smile.

"Oh my gods!" Thalia said. "Nico's smiling!"

Nico glared at her. "I am not!" Baby Nico giggled. Nico looked down and smiled a bit. Then he looked at Thalia. "Fine. I am. Only a little."

"Still a smile."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Can we _please_ keep reading before I get too bored?" Eris asked.

"Yes," Selene said. "Nike?" Nike nodded and began reading.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

**Am I a troubled kid?**

"Yes," Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico chorused.

"Why, thank you," Percy said smirking.

"I am?" little Percy asked.

"Not you," Percy said, "me."

"But_ I'm_ you, too."

"Yes, but it'll be worse when you're older."

"Oh."

**Yeah. You could say that.**

Everyone laughed.

**I could start at any time in my short miserable life to prove it,**

"Oh, dear," Eos said.

**but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan-twenty-eight mental-case kids**

Everyone laughed again.

"What?" Nico said. "I didn't do it!"

Everyone stared at him. Then cracked up.

"What?" Nico asked. He was bouncing baby Nico on his knee who was giggling.

"Aww!" all the girls in the room cooed.

"Nico, that's so cute!" Piper said.

Nico frowned, but didn't say anything.

**And two teachers**

"Only two? For you, Percy, it should be five," Thalia said. Percy made a face.

"Why?" little Percy said.

"You'll see," Annabeth said.

Nico noticed that little Percy and little Annabeth were shyly holding hands. He snickered but didn't say anything. Baby Nico looked up at him.

"Mommy!" baby Nico cried. He held his arms up like he wanted to be held. Nico sighed and picked baby Nico up and held him close.

Phobus and Deimus snickered. Nico glared at them. "What?" he said.

"Nothing," the brothers said.

**on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"That sounds like fun," Aether said.

"It was," Percy agreed.

"Roman?" Jason asked.

"Yeah," Percy said. "Why?"

"Just curious," Jason said. But everyone could tell that it was something.

**I know-it sounds like torture.**

Aether glared at Percy.

"What?" Percy said. "I said it was fun. Well, except for the monster part."

"What monster was it?" Eris asked excidedly.

"You'll see in the book, I'm pretty sure."

Annabeth glared at Percy. "You didn't tell me about that monster."

Percy shrugged. "I forgot."

**Most Yancy field trips were.**

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher,**

"I would've done great in that class," Jason said.

"Why?" little Thalia asked.

"I'm Roman."

"Oh."

**was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

"Who's Mr. Brunner?" Nico asked.

"Chiron," Percy said.

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool,**

"He doesn't sound very cool when you put it that way," Thanatos said. Nike, Amphitrite, Selene, and Eos glared at him. "What?" he asked.

**but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class.**

"Nice!" Nico said. "He sounds like an awesome teacher!"

"You never went to school," Percy said. "How would you know?"

"Never mind."

"Why didn't he ever go to school?" little Thalia asked.

"Yeah!" little Percy said. "That's not fair!"

"I'll explain after this chapter," Annabeth said.

"Daddy!" baby Nico said, reaching his small arms toward Jason.

Jason sighed and took him from Nico.

"Finally," Nico said.

**He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons,**

"Why Roman?" Amphirtite asked. Percy shrugged.

"Yeah," Jason said. "I don't understand. I thought he was a Greek guy."

"Well, it did say he was a _Latin_ teacher," Thanatos said.

"That is true, Lord Mors," Jason said.

**so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

Erebos glared at Percy. "What?" Percy asked.

"You shouldn't fall asleep in class," Erebos scolded.

"Hey, I have ADHD. It's not my fault I can't stay awake in a boring class."

"Yeah!" little Percy said, nodding. Percy smiled and gave little Percy a high five.

"Actually, Percy," Annabeth said, "it's not your ADHD. I can stay awake in boring situations."

"Well, you're Annabeth."

"It doesn't have anything to do with her being Annabeth," Thalia said. "I don't fall asleep in all my classes."

"You just said 'in _all_ my classes'."

"Whatever, Percy," Thalia said rolling her eyes.

"Wait," Proteus said. "Erebos, did you just _scold_ Percy for not falling asleep in class?"

"Maybe."

"That's a first."

**I hoped this trip would be okay.**

"Was it?" Thanatos asked. Percy glared at him.

**At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

Eos shook her head. "Whenever you say that it's sure that you'll be in trouble."

**Boy, was I wrong.**

"Like I said."

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

Everyone laughed.

"Why would you even try to use it in the first place?" Annabeth said.

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. Curiosity?"

Nico was still laughing but managed to ask, "What were you aiming for anyway?"

Percy shrugged again and was smiling now. "Monster, maybe?"

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

Everyone laughed again.

"Being a son of Poseidon," Thalia said, "probably helped you with the sharks attacking."

"Yeah," Percy said. "Too bad they didn't get John Wheel. He was a real bastard."

"Percy!" Annabeth scolded.

"What?"

"Language! There are little kids here!"

"Oh, come on. You swear, too."

"Not around kids!"

"We're not kids!" the three five-year-olds said together.

"Oh, come on," Nico said irritated. "You're five!"

Little Thalia walked over to Nico and stomped on his foot. "No, we're not!" she said.

Nico gritted his teeth. "Why you little." The ground shook and Nico handed baby Nico to Jason just as three skeletons erupted from the ground.

The three kids stood there, looking at the three warriors in fear.

Then they screamed.

"Nico di Angelo!" someone yelled. It was Percy. Percy walked over to Nico and uncapped Riptide. He pointed the sword at Nico's face. "Call them off. _Now_!"

Festus snarled. _**{AN: I almost forgot about Festus! Sorry!}**_

The kids were still screaming.

Nico looked slightly scared for a moment. Then he smirked. "What're you going to do, Percy? Cut me?"

Percy stared at him, then grinned evilly. In one smooth swipe he had made a small, shallow cut on Nico's cheek.

Everyone gasped, including the gods and goddesses. But Eris for another reason _remember, she likes fights_.

Nico stared at Percy with an unbelieving look on his face. Nico put a hand to his cheek and winced when he touched the wound. When he pulled it away it had blood on it.

"Percy…" Thalia said. "What-"

Then Percy's eyes widened, as if he just now realized what he'd done.

"Oh. Oh, gods, Nico," Percy said. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to. I wasn't thinking."

"No, really?" Nico said. "That wasn't obvious at all. You _never _think, Percy! _Never_! Do you know how much you've scared me over the years I've known you?"

Everyone gasped.

"What?" Nico said angrily. Then he sighed. "Percy, you're like the brother I never had. You weren't a replacement for…" Nico took a shaky breath. "For Bianca. No one could replace her. But it helps a little to know that there's someone who cares about me, you know?" Percy gasped when he saw a few tears escape Nico's eyes. He hadn't seen Nico cry since Bianca died.

"Hey," Percy said. "Hey, Nico. Look at me, man." Nico looked up. Percy smiled at him a bit. "You know I'm gonna be there for you, 'kay? Always."

Nico smiled back at him. "Yeah. I know."

Surprisingly, to everyone, Nico hugged Percy. It was quick, and couldn't really be considered a hug compared to anyone else, but to Nico, it was a hug. **_{I don't know why I wrote this, so don't ask. And no, it's NOT going to be a Percy/Nico thing. Nor will it be a Jason/Nico story. It's just a normal, well, kinda normal, 'reading the books' story. No slash.}_**

"All right, all right," Deimus said.

"We get it," Phobus said.

"You two love each other," Deimus said.

Percy had his sword at Deimus's throat in seconds and Nico had his sword at Phobus's throat. "No," Percy said. "We don't."

The gods, goddesses, and demigods were staring at Percy and Deimus, waiting for something to happen.

Deimus narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

Percy's eyes gleamed. "Try me," he said. "I've already fought Ares. And won. I inured him. He was bleeding." Everyone but Annabeth was staring at Percy.

"You…You _what_?" Phobus said.

"Do you want me to repeat that? I won a fight with Ares."

"I don't believe you," Nike said.

"Believe it, Lady Nike."

Nike's eyes flashed.

"Yeah, I know, I know. You could do anything to me. But don't think that you won't get beaten up by my dad."

Nike hesitated.

"That's what I thought," Percy said. Then he sat down. "Nico, can you call off those skeletons?"

"Oh," Nico said, "Yeah. Sorry."

Percy looked at the three kids. "What?" he asked.

"That was so cool!" little Percy said. "I want a sword like that!"

Percy laughed. "You'll get one soon enough."

"That was awesome!" little Thalia said. "You were like, 'take that Nico!' And he was like, 'What?' And it was awesome! Except for the hugging part and stuff."

Nico suddenly realized that baby Nico was crying. "I'll take him," Nico said. Jason hesitated, but handed him over. Nico stared down at baby Nico and started singing Pumped Up Kicks quietly.

"That's so cute!" Amphitrite whispered.

"I agree," Selene said.

"It's actually about shooting kids and stuff," Percy said, "but it is still kind of cute."

Proteus sighed. "Can we _please_ get back to the book?"

**And the time before that…Well, you get the idea.**

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

"I'm guessing that didn't happen," Aether said.

"Nope," Percy said.

"Yay!" Eris said. "I sense a fight coming on!"

Percy glared at her. "It's not fun if it's your first fight. With a-" Percy stopped talking.

"What?" Thanatos asked. "What monster was it?"

Percy shivered, remembering the first time he had to fight a monster. "You'll have to read to find out."

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit,**

Percy clinched his fists. He looked ready to punch someone. Everyone stayed silent and Nike decided to keep reading.

**the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the beck of the head with chunks of peanut-butter-and-ketchup-sandwich.**

"That's disgusting!" Amphitrite said.

**Grover was an easy target.**

"I bet he'd like to hear that," Thalia said.

"Why?" little Percy asked.

"It was sarcasm, stupid," little Thalia said.

"Hey! I'm not stupid!"

"All right!" Proteus said. "Let's continue before a huge fight starts."

**He was scrawny.**

"True," Nico said. Annabeth glared at Percy and him.

**He cried when he got frustrated.**

"You have to admit that's true," Percy said.

Annabeth sighed. "Yeah."

**He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.**

"Satyr, I'm guessing," Eos said.

"You'll see," Percy said.

"What's a sater?" little Annabeth asked.

"It's 'satyr'," Annabeth said, "and you'll just have to wait and see."

Little Annabeth huffed and crossed her arms. It was so cute that everyone had to laugh.

"She's just like you, Annabeth," Nico laughed.

"She _is_ me," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh. Right."

"Idiot."

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

Everyone laughed.

"Wow," Annabeth said. "You'd think he'd be more careful about keeping his cover."

"Yeah, well, this is Grover we're talking about," Percy said.

The little kids looked at them, confused, but kept quiet. They were getting bored and wanted some action.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit**

"What kind of a last name is that anyway?" Erebos asked.

"Yeah; Bobofit?" Leo said. "Who would want _that_ as their last name?"

Festus tipped his head to the side and his jaw creaked.

**was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation.**

"What did you do to get on probation?" Nike asked.

"I don't remember," Percy said.

**The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"Aw," Eris complained, "that's no fun."

"Something will happen anyway," Percy muttered.

**I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"Yes!" Eris exclaimed.

Aether smacked her over the head. "Don't encourage the boy."

"Um, I'm right here," Percy said. "And it's already happened, anyway."

"Not to the younger Percy," Phobus said. Deimus laughed.

"Whatever," Percy said.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

"With ketchup?" Piper asked.

Percy sighed. "No. He was just trying to calm me down."

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

**"That's it." I started to get up**

"Yes!" Eris cheered.

**but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

"Aw."

**"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

"I take it something even worse happed," Thanatos said,

Percy said, "You'll see."

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

"Oh, dear," Selene said.

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries,**

"Echoey?" Annabeth said. "I don't even think that's a word."

"It's not," Thanatos said.

**past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Longer than that," Proteus said.

"We're so old!" Eris complained.

"Oh, stop," Eos said.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a _stele_, for a girl about our age.**

"How would he know how old the kid would be?" little Thalia asked. "Was he there?"

"Maybe," Thalia said, picking little Thalia up.

[He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting,]

"_Kind of_ interesting?" Deimus asked.

"We're really cool!" Phobus added.

The brothers gave each other a high five.

"Oh, be quiet," Aether said.

**but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

"Oh my gods," Nico said sarcastically. "The evil eye. I'm so scared."

"Oh, you would be if you knew what she was," Percy said.

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old.**

"Now I know she's way older than fifty," Percy said.

Festus cocked his head to the other side, as if he was trying to think and figure out what Mrs. Dodds was.

**She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

"Nervous breakdown my ass," Annabeth said.

"Oh, look who's swearing now!" Percy said.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

"Seaweed Brain," Erebos murmured. "I like that."

"What does 'ass' mean?" little Thalia asked.

"Um, I think it's best you don't know," Thalia said. "And don't say that word, either."

"But she said it," little Thalia protested, pointing to Annabeth.

"Yes, but she's older. And she knows what it means."

"Then tell me what it means!"

"If Annabeth doesn't say it, promise me you won't say it again. Well, not for a few years."

"But-"

"Annabeth, promise not to say those words anymore, okay?"

Annabeth nodded, smiling. "Okay."

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.**

"No," Thanatos said. "You'd be sea spawn if anything."

Percy glared at him and he shut up. "Please continue, Lady Nike," Percy said.

**She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now honey," real sweet,**

Nico's eyes widened. _Shit_! he thought. _Was Alecto really the first monster Percy fought?_

"What is it, Nico?" Piper asked Nico, slightly worried.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just remembered something is all."

Piper looked at him, not completely believing him, but wanted to get on with the story.

**and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

"Gods," Nico said. "A whole _month_? I've never been to detention, but that sounds insane."

"First of all," Percy said, "you never went to school. Second, it is insane."

"Wait," Leo said. "You never went to school?"

Festus cocked his head.

"Um, no. But I have a story to go with it. I'll tell you after this chapter."

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"Why would he say that so seriously?" Eos said.

"Yeah, well, he's the worst liar I've ever met," Percy said.

"Still. He could've at least made it sound like a joke afterward."

"Like I said, he's the worst liar I've ever met."

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

**Finally, Nancy snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you _shut up_?"**

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

"Of course it did," Phobus said.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

**Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

"Yes," Nico said. "Yes he does."

"You realize you're talking to a book, right?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah, I know."

"Okay. Just checking."

Baby Nico yawned and Nico smiled.

Thalia snickered and Nico glared at her.

"What?" Thalia said. "You're acting soft."

Nico growled. "Jason, take him."

Jason decided it was best not to argue.

**My face was totally red.**

"Aw, is someone embarrassed?" Thalia teased.

Percy glared at her and she went silent.

**"No, sir."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

All the gods and goddesses shivered, thinking what it must've been like for their parents and/or good friends to be in the Titan's stomach.

"I still can't believe our parents grew up in his stomach." Thalia said.

**Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because…"**

**"Well…" I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god,**

"God?" Amphitrite exclaimed. "How _dare_ you!"

The other gods and goddesses had to hold her back from hurting Percy who was just standing there, completely unfazed. "I correct myself," he said.

Finally, Selene got Amphitrite calmed down. Nike continued to read.

**and-"**

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself.**

"See?" Percy said.

**"And…he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus,**

"Heh, baby Zeus," Thanatos snickered. Thunder rumbled nearby. "Yeah, yeah," he said.

**and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead.**

"Who can mistake a rock for a god?" Erebos asked.

"Apparently Kronos," Aether said.

"But how?" Deimus asked.

"I'm guessing," Percy said, "that he didn't really look at what he was eating, because he was either eating fast so he could just get rid of them quickly, or he just swallowed them whole."

"Wow," Annabeth said. "That's probably one of the best explanations I've ever heard from you, Seaweed Brain."

"Thank you."

**And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

"Eew," Amphitrite said. All the girls nodded and the boys gagged.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

**"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"Why can't _we_ ever be the ones who defeat the Titans?" Eris complained. "It's always the Olympians who get all the credit and the cool stuff."

"I don't know, Lady Discordia," Jason said. **_{AN: Remember, I said at the beginning that Jason could call them by their Roman names.}_**

**Some snickers from the group.**

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend,**

"She has friends?" Selene asked.

"I know. I think they're just followers," Percy said. "They've got no friends, either."

**Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say in our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"It could happen," Phobus said.

"Very unlikely," Proteus said.

"But still possible."

"Yeah, I guess."

**And why, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Because we're real," Erebos said, "and that's a good thing to know if you're a god, goddess, or half-blood."

**"Busted," Grover muttered.**

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

"Ooh, someone's angry," Eris said.

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"No," Nico said, "he has centaur ears."

Thalia and Annabeth rolled their eyes.

"Why centaur ears?" little Annabeth questioned.

"You'll see," Annabeth answered.

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"Of course you don't," Thalia said smirking. "You don't know much."

"Hey!" Percy protested. "I know a lot!"

"Oh, really?" Annabeth asked. "Can you name all the presedents?"

"Um…"

"Actually, Annabeth," Thalia said, "I don't know that, either."

Annabeth sighed.

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson.**

"Why half credit?" Jason asked. "There's no way you could've known why it applied to your life yet. You didn't know about the gods then."

"Apparently he expected me to," Percy said.

Festus creaked.

**Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note,**

"How is that happy?" Thanatos asked.

"It's not," Selene said. "It's just how he ended the sentence."

**It's time for lunch.**

Everyone laughed.

"Way to get people's appetites up, Chiron," Nico laughed.

"Chiron?" little Percy asked. "Who's Chiron?"

"Oh, you'll see in the book," Percy said.

**Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew that was coming.**

"How did you know? I thought Proteus was the one here who could tell the future," Eris asked jokingly.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go—intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old**

"Older than that," Erebos said.

**and had seen everything.**

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how you're studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

"That's your brilliant answer?" Thanatos asked, smiling,

"Hey," Nico said, "no one ever said Percy was brilliant."

"Well, I agree with that," Percy said. "But that doesn't mean I'm not smart."

"Yeah!" little Percy said. "We're smart!"

"See?" Percy said. "I agree with me."

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important.**

"It is," Thalia agreed.

"Why?" little Thalia asked.

"I'll explain after this chapter."

"Okay."

**I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

"Percy's 'best'" Thalia said, "is barely 'good'."

"Ha, ha," Percy said. "Very funny."

"Hey!" little Percy said. "That's mean!"

"I'm sorry," Thalia said to little Percy. "I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about the other Percy."

Little Percy frowned. "If you apologize to me, you have to apologize to him, too. We're the same person. Just at different ages."

Everyone but Percy, who was smiling proudly at his little self, stared at little Percy. _**{AN: does that sound weird? It kinda does to me…}**_

Thalia looked at Annabeth. "When did he get so grown up?" she asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth said. "But I do know that this Percy-" Annabeth pointed at the teenage Percy- "Isn't that mature."

"Hey!" both Percy's said.

Nike decided to keep reading.

**I wanted to get angry,**

"Why?" Amphitrite asked. "He's trying to help you."

Percy sighed. "I know that _now_."

**[this guy pushed me so hard.]**

"It's good that he did," Thalia said. "Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to…you know." Thalia didn't want to say it and give the story away.

"Wouldn't have been able to do what?" Nike asked.

"You'll see," Percy said sighing again.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor,**

"Why Roman?" Nico asked.

Percy shook his head. "Well, it _was_ Latin class. Not ancient Greek class."

**and shouted: "What ho!"**

"What ho?" Deimus asked amused.

"Don't ask me," Percy said. "I don't know."

**and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshiped.**

"Dude, that's insane!" Leo said. "How did he expect you to remember all that?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know but I remember a lot of it."

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder**

"No, you have attention deficit _hyperactive_ disorder," Annabeth said, once again being the one to specify and correct everything when someone said something wrong.

"Yeah, well, same diff," Percy said.

"Not really," Annabeth said.

"Who cares?" Phobus said.

"Yeah," Deimus said, "let's keep reading."

**and I had never made it above a C- in my life.**

"_Never_?" Nico said. "That's just sad."

"Once again, you never even _went_ to school." Percy said.

"Point taken."

**No—he didn't expect me to be _as good_; he expected me to be _better_.]**

"I don't think you can be better," Thalia said. Both Percy's glared at her. Thalia resisted the urge to shiver. Little Percy could be scary sometimes.

**And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts,**

"I know them now, though," Percy said.

**much less spell them correctly.**

"I bet you can't spell any better than I can," Percy told Annabeth.

Annabeth opened her mouth, then closed it. "Yeah," she said, "you're probably right."

"Yes!"

"But only this time!"

"Oh, no, there've been plenty of other times I was right," Percy said. "You just didn't admit it!"

"Fine."

Percy was grinning and gave little Percy a high five.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been to the girl's funeral.**

"He might have been," Thanatos said.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

"Oh, wow," Eris said. "Foot traffic. That's _so_ entertaining." Selene smacked her over the head.

"Quiet," Selene said.

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming**

"You wish, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.

**or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes.**

"What are Zeus and Poseidon so mad about?" Jason asked. Some people jumped, having forgotten he was there.

"You'll see," Thalia said.

"It seems more intense than their other fights," Eos agreed.

"Hey, maybe someone stole something," Leo said.

Everyone who knew what this fight was about stared at him.

Percy shook his head. "You have no idea."

"So someone _did_ steal something!" Leo exclaimed.

"You'll see," Percy said through clinched teeth.

"What could it be…" Leo pondered.

**I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers.**

"Poor pigeons," Selene said.

**Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know that we were from (that) school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

"You're not a loser freak," Annabeth said.

"Thanks," Percy said and gave her a quick kiss.

"Eew," Nico said.

"Aw, Amphertrite said. "I think it's cute." Then she gasped.

"What?" Aether asked.

"Look," Amphitrite said.

Everyone did. Sitting really close to each other were little Percy and little Annabeth, holding hands, and they were both blushing.

"Aw," Selene cooed.

Baby Nico woke up in Jason's arms and looked up at Jason.

"Daddy," he said, and touched Jason's nose.

Jason laughed. "What?" he asked baby Nico.

"Hugry."

Jason laughed again. "Mommy," Jason said, looking at Nico, "baby Nico's hungry."

Nico glared at him. "I am _not_ feeding him."

Baby Nico's eyes watered. "Mommy," he said.

Nico sighed, then smiled a bit. "Fine."

Jason smiled and handed baby Nico to Nico.

"Okay," Nico said, "I need food for the baby."

All the demigods laughed.

"What?" Nico asked annoyed.

"Nothing," Percy managed. "It's just funny to hear you say that."

Nico mumbled something and took the bottle of formula from Selene who was smiling.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Nico said. "Can we get on with the story?"

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius."**

"Yeah," Thalia said. "We know."

Percy rolled his eyes.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Everyone cracked up.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

"Aw," all the girls in the room cooed.

All the boys who hadn't met Sally snorted.

Nico said, "Sally is the nicest and best person in the world! If you haven't met her, you haven't met anyone nice."

Everyone stared at Nico. "What?" he asked.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.**

"Cool!" little Percy said. "I want one!"

"Me too!" Leo said. "I could make us both one."

"Yeah!"

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

Festus growled.

"That b-" Annabeth started.

"Language," Piper said.

Annabeth nodded, but growled in place of the swear word.

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

"Here comes your godly side, Perce," Nico said. He was rocking baby Nico in his arms so everyone was trying not to laugh.

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

"Yeah!" Thalia said.

"Finally!" Annabeth said.

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

"Oh, sh…crap," Jason said.

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"**

**"—the water-"**

**"—like it grabbed her-"**

"Don't you think it's a coincedence that that many mortals saw you do that?" Piper asked.

"Do what?" little Percy asked.

"Move the water."

"Oh."

"Maybe," Percy said.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

"You're always in trouble, Percy," Thalia said.

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester.**

"You probably had," Nico said. Everyone looked at him. He was still rocking baby Nico in his arms.

Everyone burst out laughing, looking at him like that. Nico glared at them. Then he smirked. "Hey, (Daddy)," Nico said to Jason. Jason looked nervous. "Why don't you take him for a bit?"

Baby Nico looked at Jason, giggled, clapped his hands, and said, "Daddy!"

Jason looked scared, but took baby Nico anyway.

Baby Nico giggled and cuddled up to Jason's chest.

"Aww!" all the girls cooed. The boys snickered.

**"Now, honey-"**

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"Dude!" Leo yelled. "Why would you _do_ that?"

"Do what?" Percy asked.

"Guess your punishment!"

"I don't know!"

"That's one of the top things on the list of "Do Not Say to Teachers" list!"

"Sorry."

"You're lucky you lived," Nico said. "Alecto can be pretty vicious."

There was silence for a minute.

Then: "Percy! You fought a fury? Your first monster was a fury and you survived?" Annabeth was amazed.

"Hey!" Percy defended. "You're acting like I wasn't capable of anything back then!"

"And you didn't tell me?" Annabeth was angry now.

"I didn't think of it! Plus, you hated me then!"

"Can we _please_ get on with the story?" Eris asked. "As entertaining as it is with you two fighting, I want to see how you defeat Alecto."

Everyone was quiet. Then Selene said, "Wow. You're actually putting a stop to a fight?"

"Lady Discordia is also waiting for a more severe and interesting one I'm guessing," Jason said. "Right?" he asked, turning to Eris.

Eris grinned. "You read my mind, Jason."

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Of course not!" Leo said.

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

"This is _not_ good," Selene said.

"Yay!" Eris said.

"You idiot!" Selene told her.

"What?"

Selene just shook her head. "Never mind."

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. _I_ pushed her."**

"What a loyal friend," Piper said.

"Way better than the fauns we have at our camp," Jason said.

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But-"**

**"You—(will)—stay—here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him.**

"No," Thalia said. "It's _not_ okay. You could've died!"

"Wow, Thalia," Percy said. "I didn't know you cared that much."

"It's not that I care. I don't it's just…" Thalia tried to find an excuse. "We wouldn't have made it without you… Wow," Thalia said. "That is _not_ what I meant to say at all."

"Too late. And it means so much to me to hear you say that." Percy put his hands on his heart.

"Shut up, fish face."

**"Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "_Now_."**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

"I _hate_ that girl," Thalia said.

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

**I have moments like that a lot, where my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the black place behind it. The school counselor told me it was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

"I don't think so, Percy," Eos said worriedly.

**I wasn't so sure.**

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner,**

"Mr. Brunner and me," Erebos said.

Everyone stared at him.

"What?" he asked. "I'm not allowed to know some correct grammar?"

Nike decided to keep reading.

**like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

"Chiron!" almost everyone said.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"I wish it was, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth sighed.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

"This can't be good," Leo said nervously, fidgeting with some gears. Festus nudged Leo's face in comfort.

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"Well that's not strange at all," Proteus said.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

"Yes!" Eris said. "Finally! A fight!"

"Shut up, Eris," Aether said.

"That's kinda scary," little Annabeth said.

"Yeah," Percy said. "You should be glad you're not going to be there."

"Will I be there then?" little Percy asked, sounding a little scared.

"Yeah," Percy said, "but our teacher will be there and everything's going to end up fine."

Little Percy smiled. "Okay!"

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…**

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing and said, "Yes, ma'am."**

"Good," Piper said.

"Not that it'll help him much now…" Jason said.

**Thunder shook the building.**

**"W are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.**

"Awesome!" Leo said.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"Oh, the horror!" Phobus said. Deimus laughed.

"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth scolded. "You got your essay off the Internet?"

"Maybe…" Percy said.

"And you think reading the book is worse than having your grade taken away?" Selene said.

"Hey! I'm dyslexic!"

"Oh. Right."

"Still," Nike said. "You should be able to read some of it and maybe get some help."

Percy shrugged. "Too late now."

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't…"**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbeque coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

**Then things got even stranger.**

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"A _p__en_?" Thanatos said. "What's he going to do with a _pen_?"

"You'll see," Percy said.

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

Suddenly, baby Nico started to cry. "Mommy!" he said, reaching out to Nico.

Nico sighed and took baby Nico. "What?" Nico asked him.

"Pway!"

"Not now," Nico said. Baby Nico's eyes started to well up with tears.

Nico sighed in defeat. "Fine," he said. Would somebody get him one of those bouncy chair things?"

"Yes," Proteus said. He waved his hand and the bouncy chair appeared, hanging from the celeaing so it was between Nico and Jason.

Nico put baby Nico into the chair and baby Nico started to bounce in it. He giggled.

"Would you continue please, Lady Nike?" Nico asked.

"Yes," Nike said. She was smiling at how cute this was.

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

"Wimp," Deimus snickered and Phobus laughed.

"Shut up, you two," Thalia said.

The gods looked at her, amazed that a demigod would say something like that.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"Nothing," Proteus said.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

"You'd think she would drop the 'honey' thing," Amphitrite said.

"That's kind of Alecto's thing," Nico said.

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. (Hisss)!**

"Hisss?" Aether said. Percy ignored him.

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"Creepy," Leo said. Festus's jaw creaked.

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

Erebus snorted. "Magic mushrooms?"

"Hey," Percy defended. "I had no idea you guys existed!"

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"Sadly, no," Piper said.

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head.**

"Why would he have that?" Leo asked. "It's not gonna protect him much."

"Satyrs have horns, remember?" Nico said. "If his hair gets wet, it'll flatten and you would be able to see his horns."

"Oh."

**Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Who?" Thalia asked.

**I said, "Who?"**

"Great," Thalia mumbled. "Now I'm thinking like Percy."

"Hey!" Percy said.

**"Our (teacher). Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

"Ah, the Mist," Thanatos said.

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

Annabeth sighed. "Grover really needs to learn how to lie."

"That he does," Thalia agreed.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under a red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"See," Nico said, "Chiron can lie."

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds o this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright?"**

"No," Thalia said. "Percy's never alright."

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Percy said.

"Okay," Nike said, "who wants to read next?"

"I will," Erebus said.

**Yay! Finally! Another chapter done!**

**Wow, I really like writing these.**

**Anyway, please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey everyone! I'M SOOOOOOOO SORRY! I can't believe I put this off for so long! Well, putting off the posting the chapter part. Anyway! I hope you can forgive me! Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?**_

_**Enjoy!**_

**Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death** Erebos read.

Percy shivered, remembering the event.

"What do you mean by 'socks of death'?" Leo asked.

"I don't-" Piper started. But then her eyes widened.

"What?" Nico asked.

Piper shook her head, trying to forget her last thought. "You'll see."

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr - a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip - had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

"That's weird," Annabeth said.

"That's like what happened to me," Jason said.

Some people looked confused. "What happened to you?" Proteus asked.

"I'll tell you after this chapter," Jason said.

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

**It got so I almost believed them - Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost.**

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

"He was never a good liar," Annabeth said.

**When I mentioned the name Mrs. Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist.**

"Goat boy!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Why would he hesitate?" Leo asked. "That's one of the worst things to do when you're lying!"

"Like I said," Annabeth repeated, "he was never a good liar."

"Goat boy?" little Thalia asked.

"Grover's a satyr."

"Oh."

**But I knew he was lying.**

**Something was going on. Something _had_ happened at the museum.**

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

"Aw," Thanatos said. "Is little Percy scared?"

"Shut up," Percy said.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slopped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends.**

"Did you win any of them?" Eris asked excitedly.

Percy thought for a moment. "I think so," he said.

"Awesome!"

**I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

"That sucks," Jason said.

"Why?" little Annabeth asked.

"It's hard to learn anything if you're sitting out in the hall and aren't able to hear anything."

"Oh."

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot.**

"What's an old sot?" little Annabeth asked.

"I think it's better that you don't know," Annabeth said.

**I wasn't sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

"Aw," Phobus said.

"Percy misses his mommy," Deimus said.

They laughed.

Percy glared at them and they stopped.

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to a public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather**

Percy growled and looked ready to kill somebody.

Erebos decided to keep reading.

**and his stupid poker parties.**

**And yet…there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend,**

"Aw," all the girls cooed.

**even if he was a little strange.**

Everyone laughed.

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

"What confidence you have in him, Perce," Nico said.

**I'd miss Latin class, too - Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

"That's sweet, Percy," Amphitrite said.

Percy ignored her.

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I started to believe him.**

"That's good," Jason said.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the _Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology_ across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties**

Some people laughed.

"One-eighties?" Leo asked.

"That's what it looked like," Percy said.

"What are one-eighties?" little Annabeth asked.

Annabeth said, "It's basically if you turn in a full circle. It's one-hundred and eighty degrees."

"Oh."

**as if they were riding skateboards.**

Some people stared at Percy and some laughed.

**There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,**

"You should be glad you did," Aether said.

"I am," Percy said.

**or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

"How do you know what that feels like?" Proteus asked Percy.

Percy shrugged. "Just a guess."

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. (I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson).**

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam.**

"Did you get an F?" Phobus asked.

"I don't remember," Percy said. "That was four years ago."

**I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was five steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said, "…worried about Percy, sir."**

"That would be weird," Thanatos said.

"Yeah," Percy said. "It was kind of scary, too."

**I froze.**

**"I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

"Sure you're not," Nico said. Percy made a face.

"What's an eavesdropper?" little Thalia asked.

"Someone who listens in on another person's conversation," Thalia said.

"Oh."

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"That would be pretty hard," Nike said.

**I inched closer.**

**"…alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in _school_! Now that we know for sure, and _they_ know, too-"]**

"Who's they?" little Percy asked.

"Monsters," Deimus said.

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

"Yeah, Percy," Thalia laughed. "You need to mature more." She was sopping wet in less than a second. "Perseus Jackson!"

"What?" Percy asked, acting like he did nothing wrong.

"Don't you dare-"

"Okay," Erebos said, interrupting her, "I'm reading."

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-"**

"What deadline?" Leo asked.

"You'll see," Annabeth said.

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

**"Sir, he _saw_ her…"**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner said.**

"I don't think I could ever think up that kind of stuff," Percy said. "I have no imagination."

**"The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

"Except it didn't," Percy said.

**"Sir, I…I can't fail my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

"What would it mean?" Piper asked.

"That he would lose his keeper's license," Thalia said.

"Oh."

"What's a keeper?" little Percy asked.

"A satyr who protects demigods." Percy said.

"Oh." _**{AN: I'm saying "oh" a lot in this story!}**_

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should've seen her for what she was. Now, let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

"What does he mean by, 'keeping Percy alive?'" little Percy asked nervously.

"It's just an expression," Percy said, calming his younger self.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hands with a thud.**

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart was hammering. I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Mr. Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Chiron!" Thalia exclaimed. "Why would he be in centaur form with a bow and arrow?"

"Bow and arrow?" little Thalia asked. "Centaur form?"

"Chiron's a centaur."

"Who's Chiron?" little Annabeth asked.

"The teacher in the book, AKA Mr. Brunner."

"Oh."

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow (clop-clop-clop), like muffled wood blocks,**

"More like hooves," Erebos said.

"Yes, we know," Nike said.

**then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could've sworn…"**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

**Finally, I slipped into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You gonna be ready for the test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just…tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression,**

"That won't work," Thanatos said.

"I know that now," Percy replied.

"Why not?" little Annabeth said.

"Satyrs can read emotions."

"Oh."

**and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"You were," Annabeth confirmed.

"From what?" little Thalia asked.

"You'll find out.

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"Three hours?" Leo exclaimed. "How did you live?"

Percy smiled. "Sometimes I ask myself the same question."

[my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.]

"Ooh," Deimus said.

"He found out about your eavesdropping!" his brother said.

"Hush, you two," Selene said.

Erebos continued reading.

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before,**

Phobus and Diemus groaned. "Aww, man!" Phobus said.

"Now we're thinking like Percy!" Diemus said.

"Hey!" Percy and little Percy protested.

"What's wrong with thinking like me?" Percy asked.

"Nothing!"

"Good."

**but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's…it's for the best."**

"I know he was trying to cheer me up," Percy mumbled, "but it didn't really work."

Baby Nico looked over at Jason. "Daddy!" he said. His little arms stretched out toward the blond demigod. Jason sighed. He picked baby Nico up and cradled him to his chest.

"Aww!" all the girls cooed. The boys snickered.

"Shut up," Jason muttered. "Please read, Lord Erebus."

Erebos snickered, but continued reading.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me.**

"Someone's embarrassed," Eris teased. Percy and little Percy glared at her. "What?" she asked.

"Leave us alone," Percy and little Percy said at the same time.

"Okay, okay."

**Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic kissing motions with her lips.**

"So," Piper said. "Nancy still hasn't finished the test."

Annabeth smirked. "I guess Percy's faster and smarter than her."

"Not exactly," Nike said. "Percy could've been just rushing through the test to get it over with."

"I was not!" Percy complained.

"Or," Nike added, "he was - and still is - smarter then her and just got done quicker."

"I'd go with the second one."

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean…" Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you.**

"He's right," Thalia said. "Camp Half-Blood is."

**It was only a matter of time."**

**My eyes stung.**

"Aw," Phobus said.

"Is little Percy gonna cry?" his brother asked.

Percy snarled, "Don't you dare."

The brothers put their hands up in surrender, but were still smiling.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

The two brothers and Eris snickered.

Percy glared at them and they stopped.

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all.**

Leo, the brothers, and Eris smiled. "Confound it all?" Leo asked.

Percy shrugged. "Don't ask me."

**What I'm trying to say…you're not normal, Percy.**

"Ouch," Leo said.

"I'm sure that's something a kid would want to hear from their favorite teacher," Piper said. "Especially if they were already diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia."

Percy smiled. "Now I know he meant me being a half-blood."

"Then again," Thalia said, "Percy's never been known to be normal."

"Hey!" Percy and little Percy said.

**That's nothing to be-"**

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy-"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into m suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were _rich_ juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"_What_?" Eris exclaimed. "A _family _of _nobodies_?"

"Eris-" Nike started.

"No!" Eris said. "We are _not_ a family of nobodies!"

Percy was completely relaxed, while the other demigods were flinching a bit.

"Lady Eris," Percy said.

"What?" Eris demanded.

"I didn't know about you guys back then."

"I-" Then Eris realized that that was true. She sank back into her throne. "Right," she mumbled. "Sorry."

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

"At least they had the decency to ask," Proteus said. Everyone jumped, having forgotten he was there.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had,**

"Gee," Thanatos said. "What a coincidence."

**so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

"You never know," Eos said.

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**"Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"You probably scared him out of his fur!" Nico said, laughing.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

"You idiot!" Leo exclaimed.

"What?" Percy asked.

"You confessed!"

"Sorry!"

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

**"Oh…not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"**

**He winced. "Look, Percy…I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers…"**

"Wow," Selene said. "That was really bad to say."

"He's a really bad liar," Nico said.

**"Grover-"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds and…"**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "He is."

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby**

"What does 'grubby' mean?" little Percy asked.

"Dirty," Annabeth said.

**business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."**

**The card was in fancy script,**

"Why fancy script?" Leo asked.

"It's probably a god thing." Everyone looked at Jason who was still looking down at baby Nico who was holding his fingers.

"Aw, Jason," Piper said, "that's so cute!"

Jason glared at her. "Daddy!" baby Nico said. Jason looked back down at baby Nico and smiled.

There was a small _click_ and Jason looked over to see Piper putting her camera away.

"Piper!" Jason said.

"What?" Piper said. "It's just too cute!"

Jason sighed.

"Please keep reading, Lord Erebos," Thalia said.

**which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800) 009-0009**_

**"What's Half-"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped.**

"Oh, that was real smooth, goat boy," Thalia said.

**"That's my, um…summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home.**

"Well, not exactly a summer home," Thalia said. "More like a camp."

"It (is) a camp," Percy said.

**I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"I don't know if I would say his family is rich," Nico said. "His friends, us, are."

"Well, not exactly in mortal cash," Annabeth said.

"What do you mean 'mortal' cash?" little Annabeth said.

"Mortal cash compared to drachmas," Nico said.

"What the heck are drachmas?" little Thalia said.

"Greek god money," Thalia said. "Pure gold coins."

"These are drachmas." Percy pulled out a handful of gold coins.

"No way," Nico said. "How did you get that much?"

"Um…Lord Erebos, could you keep reading?"

Erebos smiled. "No, I'd like to hear how you got that many."

"Erebos," Nike said, "keep reading."

**"Okay," I said, glumly. "So, like, if I want to visit your mansion."**

Piper said, "Once again, I don't think it's a mansion. More like a large farmhouse."

**He nodded. "Or…or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

"Harsh, Percy!" Nico said.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten into fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beat up next year without me.**

"Aw," the girls said.

"That's so sweet, Percy," Eos said.

"Yeah, yeah," Percy mumbled.

**And here he was acting like he was the one who defended _me_.**

**"Grover," I said. "What exactly are you protecting me from?"]**

"Monsters," Thanatos said.

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

Everyone wrinkled their noses.

**The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

"Well that wasn't a coincidence," Phobus said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" little Percy asked.

"Let Erebos read and you'll find out."

**After a few minutes of clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed out with everyone else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road - no place you'd notice if you didn't break down. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I've ever seen.**

Everyone paled.

"What?" little Annabeth asked.

"The Fates," Percy said gravely. Annabeth grabbed his hand tightly. He wrapped an arm around her. Festus nudged Percy's face and made a weird purring noise.

**I mean, these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandanas, boney arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

"Percy…" Piper said, shakily. "How did you…?"

"Live?" Percy finished. "I don't know. I guess…I don't know." Percy shook his head. Annabeth tightened her grip on Percy's hand and he tightened his grip around her as well.

**I looked at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Not funny, Perce," Nico said, his face still deathly pale. _**{Heh, deathly pale. I didn't even notice that.}**_

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors - gold and silver long-bladed, like shears.**

Everyone held their breath.

**I heard Grover catch his breath.**

**"We're going on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

"Good idea," Amphitrite said.

"But I'm guessing you didn't do it," Proteus said.

"No," Percy said, sadly.

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

**"Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

"Of course you did, Percy," Piper said weakly.

Annabeth hugged Percy tightly, as if he was going to disappear. Percy hugged her back.

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn,**

Everyone looked down. Annabeth buried her face in Percy's chest and cried.

Piper was close to tears, too, and she buried her face in Jason's shoulder. Jason held her close without squishing baby Nico.

**and I swear I could hear that _snip_ across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for - Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

"Not funny, Percy," Leo said, his voice shaky.

"What just happened?" little Percy asked. He sounded a little scared, too.

"Um," Nico said. "I'll tell you later."

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuttered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"Well, lets see…" Thanatos said. "Just about everything."

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like…Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"No," Aether said. "They're-"

"Don't say it, Aether," Nike said.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds.**

"You're right," Annabeth said, having calmed down enough to speak. Percy held her close.

Little Percy looked scared, and little Annabeth held his hand for comfort.

**He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

All the demigods looked confused, but only for a second.

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?"**

"What do you mean 'So?'" Thanatos said. "That's probably one of the worst things that you can see!"

Eos slapped him on the head. "Hush. You're scaring the younger boy."

"Oh. Sorry."

Little Percy was shaking a bit. Little Annabeth took his hand and whispered something to him. He smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Aww!" all the girls (except for Eris) cooed.

**But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

"Not just-" Phobus started, but was stopped by a slap to the head.

"Quiet," Selene said.

"Yes, ma'am."

**"This isn't happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

"What happened last time?" Deimus asked.

No one answered.

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

"But you did," Nico told Percy.

"Yeah," Percy said, frowning.

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

"Oh, just the time when I got turned into a tree," Thalia said.

Leo's eyes widened. "You were a _tree_?"

"Yeah. I try not to think about it."

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

"Why?" little Thalia asked.

"I'll tell you after this chapter," Annabeth said.

"'Kay."

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

"But you didn't, did you?" Annabeth said.

Percy sighed. "No. I didn't."

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover - the snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

Little Percy was shaking and little Annabeth was watching him, not sure what to do.

Annabeth walked over to Little Percy and picked him up.

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Erebos said.

"I'll read," Selene said.

**I said "Oh" twelve times in this chapter! Wow, that's a lot. I think…Anyway! I hope you enjoyed it! One again, I'M SOOOOO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! I hope you can forgive me!**

**I'll get the next chapter up ASAP!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Please review!**

**_Sister_~**


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